Wednesday, July 18, 2012

KIND WORDS

I share this note, a letter of recognition to be sure, but you'll get a sense of how I approach design:

We think of Thamby Kumaran with gratitude and fondness every day: he designed and built the winery and office where we work; he designed, sited, and built the home we line in. He designed and built the adjacent home for our parents, with the special needs brought by their more of eight decades of living.

Every view, every carefully crafted piece of joinery, every relaxing place to work and serene setting in which to reflect and seek calmness has been touched by his vision, humanity and craft.

We chose a challenging property on the east side of Napa Valley high in the hills. No road, no buildings, unlimited opportunity to do it right or to do it wrong.

Somehow we found Thamby. He learned the spirit of the land and placed the buildings in just the right sites and at just the right scale. (Now, we know that he also learned our spirit and gently guided us to the right choices.) Thamby is simultaneously practical and visionary, disciplined and inventive, determined and collaborative.

We have worked with Thamby on three projects over a siz-year span. We have lived in the home he built for us for 14 years. We know we will seek his help for our next project, whenever and wherever it may be.